Comments: Sales cosmetics and fragrances rose nearly 3% last year. Perfumes accounted for 45% of sales (down from 48% in 2012), followed by cosmetics (37%) and skin care products (18%). By region, rest of Europe represented 32% of sales, followed by rest of Asia (24%), other markets (14%), France (13%), US (12%) and Japan (5%).

Some of the biggest beauty highlights of 2013 had less to do with product and more to do with place. First, there was the opening of 68 Champs-Élysées, a beauty boutique offering customized skin care in the heart of Paris. Outside the City of Light, the LVMH Group opened its new perfumes and cosmetics research center in Saint-Jean-de-Braye. The 18,000 square-meter facility is home to 250 researchers working for Parfums Christian Dior, Guerlain, Parfums Givenchy and Fresh. More than 20 fields of study are conducted at the site.

Corporate sales rose nearly 4% last year to almost $40 billion, with perfumes and cosmetics contributing 13% to the total.
For the first quarter of 2014, corporate sales once again increased 4% to $9.8 billion. Sales of perfumes and cosmetics increased 1% to nearly $1.3 billion. Christian Dior led the way, on demand for its J’adore and Miss Dior fragrances. Also providing a lift was Guerlain’s Asian roll out of Abeille Royale skin care.

LVMH’s business is beautiful in the eyes of business school students, too. For the ninth consecutive year, LVMH topped the Universum France’s ranking of the most attractive employers in a survey of students at France’s top business schools. More than 34,000 students from 112 higher education institutions responded to this year’s survey.

“We are proud to receive this further expression of confidence and we are delighted that the exciting career prospects and entrepreneurial spirit of our 65-plus Houses around the world are widely recognized,” said Chantal Gaemperle, group executive vice president, human resources and synergies. “Our talent development policy is founded on our culture of mobility across jobs and countries, combined with ambitious training programs specially designed to meet the distinctive needs of our different métiers.”

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